The forest did not welcome them.
It observed.
Sai Ji felt it the moment his foot crossed the invisible boundary between the grove and the deeper Verdant Weald. There was no system alert this time, no warning text flashing red across his vision. Instead, the sensation crept in quietly—like a hand resting on the back of his neck, not threatening, not gentle, simply present.
Around him, the trees grew closer together.
Their trunks were impossibly tall, bark smooth and pale as bone, etched with faint patterns that shifted when not looked at directly. Leaves overhead filtered the light into fractured emerald shards that drifted lazily across the forest floor. Every breath tasted alive—wet earth, sap, something metallic beneath it all.
Behind him, the pack followed.
Not in their usual loose formation.
Tighter. More cautious.
Midnight Wolf's enchanted lenses whirred softly, failing to settle on a stable readout. "Okay," he muttered, trying—and failing—to keep the nerves out of his voice. "So either this place has god-tier stealth modifiers… or my UI is actively refusing to cooperate."
Lura glanced sideways, eyes sharp. "Your tools aren't broken."
"They're offended," Midnight Wolf shot back. "There's a difference."
Fern said nothing. His presence alone was grounding—broad shoulders squared, boots planting carefully as if each step mattered more than the last. He'd adjusted his grip on the greatsword, not readying it to strike, but to anchor himself.
Aeliana walked closest to Sai Ji, her staff dim, Sol's egg cradled against her chest. The egg pulsed once, faintly, in rhythm with something beneath the soil.
Nyx remained unseen.
Sai Ji didn't need to look to know the spectral wolves were still there.
He could feel them.
Not circling.
Not guarding but watching
The deeper they went, the quieter the forest became.
No insects. No birds. No distant calls.
Just the sound of their own movement—and even that felt muted, as if the Weald was absorbing it, storing it for later judgment.
Sai Ji's chest tightened.
This wasn't hostility.
This was assessment.
A flicker of system text appeared at the edge of his vision, faint and unstable.
[Zone Status: DEEP GREEN]
— Environmental Authority Detected
— Player Actions Under Evaluation
Midnight Wolf swore under his breath. "I've never seen that tag before. Not even in restricted lore zones."
"That's because this isn't one," Lura said quietly. "It's older."
They reached a natural clearing where the ground dipped slightly, roots curling along the surface like exposed veins. At its center stood a stone marker half-swallowed by moss, ancient runes carved so deeply they looked grown rather than etched.
The wolves stood at the treeline.
Five massive silhouettes of moonlit shadow and silver flame.
They did not enter the clearing.
The lead wolf—the one with the star-shaped scar across its muzzle—met Sai Ji's gaze once more.
Its eyes were calm and patient.
Then it sat while the others followed.
Midnight Wolf stared. "They're… stopping?"
"They've brought us as far as they're allowed," Aeliana said softly. "Or as far as they choose."
Sai Ji stepped forward.
The moment his foot crossed into the clearing, the air shifted.
Pressure settled on his shoulders—not crushing, but undeniable. His instincts surged, the Werewolf King's presence rising reflexively, testing dominance.
The forest answered as the pressure doubled.
Sai Ji staggered a half-step, teeth gritting as his claws threatened to manifest before he forced them down.
Fern moved instantly, one heavy hand bracing his back. "Easy."
Sai Ji nodded, breathing through it.
The message was clear.
Do not push.
The runes on the stone marker flared softly.
Mist coiled upward from the ground, thin and pale, threading itself into shape.
Three figures emerged.
They were not summoned.
They were revealed.
The stag-headed Archivist stepped forward first, its crystalline eyes reflecting layers of unseen data. Scrolls and floating sigils orbited its form, rearranging themselves with silent precision.
Beside it, half-fused with the trunk of a towering oak, stood the Tree-Scribe—bark and flesh intertwined, eyes glowing a deep, patient green.
Last came the child.
Barefoot while moss-crowned. Its expression unreadable.
The pack tensed.
Fern's hand dropped to his sword hilt.
Lura's knives were suddenly in her palms.
Midnight Wolf's lenses flickered wildly. "Uh—Sai Ji? System confirmation: these are NPCs. But they're not assigned threat levels. Or dialogue trees. Or—actually, they're not assigned anything."
The child looked at him and Midnight Wolf shut up instantly.
The stag inclined its skull. "Travelers," it said, voice layered like overlapping echoes
"You stand within a sovereign domain."
Aeliana bowed her head instinctively but Sai Ji did not.
"I know," he said. "We're not here to conquer it."
The forest did not react.
The Tree-Scribe spoke next. "Intent is not action. Action is not consequence. Consequence is memory."
The child tilted its head. "The forest remembers kings."
That word hit harder than Sai Ji expected.
Midnight Wolf swallowed. "Okay, so—just to clarify—we're not about to fight a boss, right?"
The Archivist's gaze shifted to him. "Violence is the least interesting response."
Sai Ji felt it then—a subtle pulling sensation, like invisible threads brushing against his spine. Not forceful. Curious.
The forest wasn't judging the group.
It was judging him.
System text flickered again, sharper this time.
[Evaluation Target Identified]
— Sai Ji
— Status: ANOMALOUS
The child stepped closer, stopping just short of Sai Ji's reach. Its eyes glowed faintly.
"You carry a crown you did not forge," it said. "Why?"
Sai Ji didn't answer immediately.
He thought of the gacha wheel.
The glitch.
The weight of a legacy that had never asked for permission.
"Because the system made a mistake," he said at last. "And I survived it."
The Archivist's scrolls rearranged themselves.
"Survival does not equal worth."
"I know."
That earned him something like interest.
The Tree-Scribe's roots shifted beneath the soil. "This forest has seen sovereigns who ruled through fear. Through hunger. Through domination."
Sai Ji felt the Werewolf King stir.
"Where do you stand?" the stag asked.
Sai Ji took a breath as he stepped forward again.
This time, he did not push his authority outward.
He pulled it inward.
The pressure eased.
"I don't want to own this place," he said. "I want to pass through it without breaking it."
Silence.
The wolves watched from the trees, unmoving.
The child smiled—not kindly, not cruelly.
"Then walk," it said.
The mist surged not violently but inevitably as Sai Ji felt the world tilt.
Behind him, Midnight Wolf's voice rose in alarm. "Wait—what's happening—?"
The forest exhaled and the pack vanished.
Fern found himself standing on a battlefield of ash.
Lura found herself alone, tracking prey that never stopped running.
Midnight Wolf found a Codex that erased itself as he read it.
Aeliana held Sol's egg as it cracked in her arms.
Sai Ji stood in none of those places.
He stood alone on a narrow path of intertwined roots stretching forward into the heart of the Verdant Weald.
The NPCs were gone, the wolves were also gone.
Only the forest remained and it was watching.
System text burned into clarity at last.
[Trial Initiated]
— Trial of Roots
— Condition: PROCEED ALONE
Sai Ji exhaled slowly.
"So this is how it starts," he murmured.
The path ahead shifted and it was-
Waiting.